Happy Today

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:

I, not events, have the power to make 

me happy or unhappy today. 

I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, 

tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, 

and I'm going to be happy in it."

-Groucho Marx

This morning I am reviewing the techniques we have learned while taking class 

with my dear friend Nancy Burns on Intuitive Healing.

The first one I am focusing on is how to open and balance our chakras. (click link if you need help understanding what chakras are)

Here is one technique called "Sound Breathing" that Nancy shared with us

Sound breathing:

Large breath in to begin each chakra.

Focus attention on the chakra, vividly picture the color and make the long continuous sound on the outbreath.  Hold the sound as long as comfortably possible without repeating.

Visualize the chakra open in front and back and spinning in a clockwise manner

-          root – red – sound aah (safety)

-          sacral – orange – sound ooh (creativity/sexuality)

-          solar plexus – yellow – sound o (will power)

-          heart – green – sound u (love)

-          throat – blue – sound e (voice)

-          third eye – violet – sound sunnnn (intuition)

-          crown – creamy white – sound summmm (divinity)

-          above - ohm

Another version replaces the sounds with Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Om, Om, Om – in same order.

Would love to hear about your experience with this. How is it for you? Please comment below.

Enjoy!

Enlightenment, Eckart Tolle and The Power of Now - Part I

"It can transform your thinking... the result? More joy, right now?" - O: The Oprah Magazine

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You asked for this - so dear reader, I will give it to you although I can't promise that you'll grasp this right away. It took me time to understand the deeper meaning and concepts behind Eckart Tolle's, The Power of Now. 


In order for you to begin to understand the meaning of his work, and to move on your path toward "enlightenment," (what the buddha calls the end of suffering) what you need to work on understanding first is that you are not your mind. 

"What? Huh? That makes no sense, what do you mean?" 


The brain, your mind is an organ in your body - just like the heart or your lungs. It is an instrument or a tool and there is a higher part of you that can control your mind. Still unclear? Try this. What are you doing right now with your body ? Your legs? Your fingers? Are you wiggling your toes? Or playing with your hair? Did you consciously using your mind make your body do that? See... there is another part of you, not just your mind. 


Tolle says, "Thinking has become a disease." You know those nights where you can't get to bed because the noise in your head won't stop?  You have the power to switch on the "off" button - no one has ever told you that though, until now. 


Tolle says, if you can't be free of your mind whenever you want to be, "then the mind is using you, you are unconsciously identified with it, so you don't even know it's your slave. It's almost as if you were possessed without knowing it, and so you take the possessing entity to be yourself."


Here is a simple exercise you can start with, compliments of Joseph Russo, my spiritual mentor and Author of Thoughts to Live By : 



PRACTICING ‘NO MIND’ During meditation we learn to still the mind. But to carry this meditative state into daily life we may need to practice NO MIND. As we do this we become more sensitive and receptive and experience more fully and objectively.

Here’s how:  

• When conversing, experience the other person’s words and actions without reacting. Just be still and fully attentive, keeping your mind clear and your heart open

• As you practice NO MIND even the most familiar person can be experienced as if for the first time; you can have a better connection with them and have new ‘first’ impressions of them.

• During NO MIND, living becomes a self-expanding discovery process; true knowing and understanding, as well as love, beauty, uniqueness and joy become more readily available. 

• Ordinarily, the mind acts as a biased filter screening out much of reality. It defines, compares, judges and reduces reality to mental constructs born of past experience.

• It can keep us from experiencing the wonder of living and from gaining new insights and understandings. To experience life more deeply, it helps to practice NO MIND.

This is living meditation -- the dropping of thought and receiving existence by directly sensing with the intuitive intelligence of one’s whole being. Then the mind serves as a clear channel connecting the outer world with our inner world, and a new level of awareness and consciousness can take hold.

Have you experienced "no mind" - how do you quiet your mind? 

Stay tuned, this is part I of an on-going series!

Let Go and Let God (or spirit, or whatever you want to call that greater power)

On April 4th, 2011 I was in a car accident...

I was on my way home from Fayetteville, NC driving on the interstate when a small truck in front of me slammed on his brakes. Cars were all around me and I only had a few seconds to brake before I slammed into the back of his vehicle. My initial thoughts "this is really really bad." 

In the last six weeks I have realized that to call something "bad" or "good" is to create a label and then most often we create a story around that thing.  For example, the accident was "bad" because I totaled my car and had to spend a bunch of money to get things back to normal.

It can go fast or slow - its your choice

Well, 6 weeks later I have come to be extremely grateful for that car accident. While I would rather never have something like that happen again, it helped me to put things in my life into a very clear perspective. Where was I going so quickly? Hadn't I moved here to North Carolina to slow down a bit? What was and is really truly important to me? Where was I spending my time? Who was I spending it with?

Letting Go and Letting God (or spirit or whatever you feel comfortable calling that greater power) allowed me the incredible opportunity to see that I was unconsciously starting to re-create situations in my life that I had worked so hard to dissolve when I moved here.  Its incredible how caught up we can become in the daily routine of living and we forget to step back and have a spiritual practice that allows us to create space.

Space is best created through meditation. Now, I am one of those people who fights my ego to meditate - its very challenging for me to sit and think of NOTHING for even 5-10 minutes but when I do, the gifts I receive are so plentiful. So how do you begin the art of meditation?

Sitting in a chair or on the floor will do.

The best way to begin meditating...

1. Sit comfortably in a chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground
2. Dont rest your back on the chair
3. Place your palms face up on your upper legs
4. Breathe! Concentrate and focus your mind on feeling your body (what does it feel like to have your feet planted firmly on the ground? What does it feel like to have your legs touching the chair)
5. Then slowly feel the energy moving throughout your body start feeling the energy in your feet, then your legs, then upwards till you reach the top of your head)
6. If your mind begins to wander, thats okay - just allow yourself to feel the power of your presence - give yourself the gift of just 5 minutes of thinking about nothing except the energy of your body
7. Be patient with yourself it takes time! The thoughts will come and thats normal - just dismiss them for the time
8. See what messages you feel come to you - if you get quiet enough you may get a beautiful piece of information from your higher self :)

Accept and allow - surrender to what IS - stop fighting the world , this doesn't mean allowing others to walk over you, you can surrender and still be strong.

Do you meditate? How does it work for you? COMMENT PLEASE!!! 

Let me know what you'd like to see in this blog!

With all my love,

Marni 

Email marni with your thoughts! marniblythe@gmail.com

Loving Presence

Have you ever witnessed a new mother looking into the face of her new born child? There is a stillness, a calm, she is no where else but right there, in that present moment and there is nothing but LOVE.

Loving PRESENCE is the key to relationships, building and nurturing...it is also our natural state of BEING. It is to be present in the moment and bring forth all the love you can muster and shower it upon the person through a smile, a warmth that radiates from your soul and pours out of your eyes when you gaze upon that person.

"Loving Presence isn’t something we do. It emerges as a natural state when we are calm, open, fully present, appreciative and relaxed — not impatient, not acting in a role, feeling overly responsible or worried or bored, It blossoms from an attitude or state of mind into a full-bodied experience of joy. When someone offers loving presence in relationship, it has a very powerful effect on another. Possibly without even noticing it, the other feels safer, feels heard, appreciated, and even understood. When that happens, healing has already begun and is most likely to continue in a fruitful direction."

http://www.hakomi.c/practice.htm

Loving Presence can be practiced when engaged in a conversation with another, focus on just listening and not interjected with your own thoughts. Try to watch the mind and see when it goes off in another direction, redirect your energy to the present moment and on being THERE with the other person.

· "The power of Loving Presence for the person experiencing it is the full aliveness of being open to anothers beauty and strength, to the human spirit with all its beauty and pain. It brings with it the experience of compassion – of heart opening – a spontaneous opening that happens effortlessly when we are able to behold anothers suffering, vulnerability, or child-like qualities. The gift of Loving Presence is in the experience of being nourished simply as a result of seeing another with appreciation, with a willingness to be inspired, to enjoy the other person’s presence as a blessing, to see the divine in them perhaps…"

Practice this and let me know how your relationships change!





Email marni with your thoughts! marniblythe@gmail.com

The Power of Surrender

By surrendering to life we can live more effectively in the present

There’s much that can be done to take control in our lives. But our full potential can’t be achieved if we’re ruled by apprehension, anxiety, frustration, worry, doubt and/or fear.

Much of life is not in our control. Many of us may not want to acknowledge or face this. It can be too scary.

For example, as much as we may try to please others, we can’t control how they’ll react to us or what they’ll choose to believe or feel about us, a serious illness or accident may suddenly befall us; also, at any time, we may find ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and experience harm.

We’re always vulnerable in life and subject to sudden loss or mishap. This is an undeniable fact. And this is one of our greatest spiritual challenges -- to become accepting and comfortable with this fact and not let it daunt our spirit or misdirect our energies.

When we surrender to what IS, rather that create worry, doubt and fear about what may come of it, we are actually in our greatest power.

Acceptance of a situation or full surrender comes from the master thought of LOVE which opens up possibility. Worry, frustration, doubt comes from the master thought of FEAR which closes down and makes us unable to move forward.

Ironically, by accepting our vulnerability and life’s unpredictability (i.e., surrendering to life) we increase control. Then, instead of putting a great deal of energy into defending against the many onslaughts life might bring, we can put all of our energy into dealing with what life actually brings.

ACCEPT WHAT IS AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!

Email marni with your thoughts! marniblythe@gmail.com

Specific Goal Setting - Create the Life You Want

What is it that you really want?

When is the last time you asked yourself that question?

Not what your spouse or life partners wants, not your family or friends, but YOU. As we get older we fall so much into the day to day that we forget that we have the ability to dream - and create... remember what it was like when you were a child and you had those BIG dreams. What were they? More importantly, what are they NOW?

I have been reconnecting to my dreams and meditating on what exactly it is that I want in my life. It is so much fun when you don't let limited beliefs get in the way of your dreams.

Edwine Gaines says, " One of the main reasons people don't reach for their goals is that they believe there is something about themselves that will prevent them from getting whatever it is they really want in their deepest heart of hearts."

You see, anything is possible - who told you it wasn't ??

The thing is that you must take steps toward the dreams you want.

Goethe said, "whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it."

Don't worry that your dreams are bigger than your bank account!

There is more than enough to go around - there is abundance EVERYWHERE! Its just a matter of learning to be aware of our own limited self beliefs. Those ideas and stories that creep into our mind (aka that little voice that says "no , you can't do that."

First thing first... if you want something you have to get SPECIFIC! After all... how can the universe start to move to help you if you aren't even sure what you want.

If I wanted to get something to eat and I walked into the supermarket and told the cashier to just "give me whatever" would I end up with what I want? Certainly not -- I would say I want a box of whole wheat crackers or whatever. See what I'm sayin' ?

I love the 21 day challenge that Edwine Gains references in her book, "The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity" Here is what she says... you have to be POWERFUL, "power is what you need to accomplish great things. But first you must be faithful in small matters before you'll be made a master over great matters."

Here is the challenge, ready for it? (thank you Edwine!)

NO COMPLAINING FOR 21 DAYS!

This means:

• No criticism
• No bitchin
• No gossip

AND IF YOU SLIP, YOU WILL HAVE TO FORGIVE YOURSELF AND START ALL OVER.

AFTER THIS FAST YOU WILL FIND OUT HOW POWERFUL YOU REALLY ARE.

I started my 21 day cycle and you know what, I'm lovin' it! If you are ready to start, let me know...lets do it together. Share it with a few friends and pay it forward.

Blessings to you,

Marni

Email marni with your thoughts! marniblythe@gmail.com

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Living an Abundant Life

ABUNDANCE IS A STATE OF MIND THAT LEADS TO PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION OF PHYSICAL RESOURCES

I woke up this morning and was so full of energy, love, light and grace filled my heart. I can't believe I was up until almost 2AM creating my new website!

Everything in my life is so abundant right now and I am receiving so many blessings that I literally cried tears of happiness and joy last night while riding home after a beautiful evening.

You see, I have been completely focused on maintaining an attitude of ABUNDANCE.
What does that mean? Maintaining?

Maintaining a constant attitude of ABUNDANCE means you are remembering to observe who you are being as often as you can. You are focused on being grateful for all the wonderful things you already have in your life.

"You live in and with abundance when you accept the power of love to heal, transform
and create. Love is energy, so when you invoke love for yourself, for others,
and for the earth, you bring universal energy into focus."
- Meredith L. Young-Sowers (personal healing & spiritual discovery)

You see all thought is creative... did you know that? Think about it ;) When you have a thought about something it becomes the word that come out of your mouth, then "deeds" or events occur as a direct correlation to how you are thinking about them!

Change your thinking - Change your LIFE and then you create ABUNDANCE

Remember: Abundance or PROSPERITY does not need to be about material things only.

~Abundance is the opposite of scarcity~

Chances are, your life is already ABUNDANT! You just haven't been aware or focused on it!

Then you are able to actually set your intention and work towards the goal of
tangible materials and events.

KEY TO YOUR ABUNDANCE SUCCESS:

• When money, position, or other material advantages are offered, look beneath the surface of success, profit or an important job title to see if abundance is truly present
• Does the person you are doing business with, or do the circumstances from which you hope to make money, comply with the principles of universal abundance: to take only what is required in order to live reasonably upon the earth, to use al human and natural resources for the benefit of ALL and to proceed in all activities with a reverence for life?
  

IF YOU ADOPT THIS ATTITUDE YOU WILL BE NATURALLY LED TO THE MANY WAYS ABUNDANCE WILL NOURISH YOUR MIND BODY SPIRIT

Set your intention - focus and make this the most abundant day of your life!

Blessings to you,

Marni